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Morning Thoughts |
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Morning Thoughts |
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Colossians
3:15, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are
called in one body; and be ye thankful." This morning, we are again approaching my favorite time of year: Thanksgiving. While I do enjoy the fall and pre-winter temperatures, changing of the leaves in rich, beautiful tones, and time of family gatherings, the point of this holiday season is one for which I am truly thankful. It should be no wonder that this holiday is the least marketed, for the theme does not allow for marketing and hungry pride or greed. The thoughts that "should" be upon our brain during this time do not lend themselves to increased stature and money-making. Rather, this is a time for reflection and meditation on all the good things that we have with a sense of gratitude to the One that has provided for us exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think. (Ephesians 3:20) A thankful heart seeks not praise, but rather to give praise. A thankful heart seeks not honour and fame, but rather to make known and spread abroad the richness of the Giver of what we are thankful to have. In our verse above, Paul speaks of a condition in which we should be thankful to occupy. With thanks in mind for this situation, we will find less time to grumble, complain, and fret in our minds, and we will find rich portions of time to walk in fellowship with our God. The first clause is to "let the peace of God rule in your hearts." The key to that phrase in my humble opinion is "rule." The word "rule" has connotations of awarding a prize to a winner, or providing a judgment call like an umpire would provide a ruling in a situation. We understand from Scriptures that God's love and the image of His Son is stamped upon us from the moment of regeneration. That forever stays with us, cannot be lost, and will never pass away. Therefore, that which is stamped within us has all the virtues and fruit that we should seek to exercise and bring out in glory to God. The new man is full of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. (Galatians 5:22-23) Our course is to work out those things that God has worked in through the new birth. Therefore, the new man has peace as an aspect of that fruit from the Spirit of Almighty God. Paul exhorts the Colossians (and us today) to let that rule in our heart. The peace of God which passeth understanding should be that which we award the prize in our thoughts and efforts. We should rest in peace (in our minds) in contentment for what He has done for us. We should be at peace with God (through justification by faith - Romans 5:1) and judge in ourselves that His peace should win the day in our thoughts. We should not be at peace with our own shortcomings, but we should be at peace about the remedy to those shortcomings. We should not be at peace with error, but we should be at peace with how to handle error in our lives. By awarding peace the prize in our minds of how to handle situations and contentions, we become more thankful for what we have and less apt to grumble at what we do not or worried about certain situations and circumstances. There are situations in life that garner our concerns: our family's welfare, the sheep of Zion being fed, leading more Godly lives, etc, but the prize in our life should be the peace of God that is above the concerns and trials. The next phrase speaks of us being "called in one body." While we understand the Scriptures to teach that we are called into the family of God, vitally by the effectual call, Paul is here describing the manifestation of putting on our calling. When people see a child of God's walk of fellowship, they declare, as was the case with Abraham, that such a one is a "friend of God." Works have now corroborated with the faith so that we are not only justified in our minds by faith, but we are justified by works in the sight of men. By putting on Christ, we are identified with Him as part of the body of His visible church that seeks and desires to follow after Him in obedience with all faith, verity, righteousness, and charity. Part of being a member of a body shows harmony (peace) within that framework. Paul describes to the Corinthians in the first epistle, chapters 12 and 14, about how the body should function together in peace, harmony, with all decency and order. A body in turmoil, due to the sickness of one member, does not have a peaceful situation, but Paul speaks of letting peace rule as we are called in one body. Seeing therefore that our actions affect others (in this context specifically within the body of believers that are identified with Christ), we should let peace rule not only for our benefit but for theirs as well. Our actions affect a great many others, and our fretting, tossing, and turning can promote the unrest of others who were ruling in peace heretofore. The point of gathering with the family at Thanksgiving is not to "air out family grievances" but rather to come together in fellowship and love to promote peace through gratitude. The point of gathering with the house of faith is not to "point out all the problems" but to worship God in the peace and love of the harmony of like-minded brethren. Therefore, the point of letting peace rule within the framework of the body of believers is that we need to be thankful. It is hard to be thankful when we are not at peace. It is hard to be thankful when the body is in a state of unrest. It is hard to focus on the peaceful scene of the finished work of Jesus Christ the Righteous when we cannot see beyond the nose of our grumblings and worries. But, when the discernment for the top place in our mind is that of the peace of God, earthly worries and cares fade from comparison. When the body comes together in harmony of thought, deed, and word, all earthly enterprises melt from view. Gratitude for the Lord and His grace comes into brilliant focus so that we can say, "The Lord has been so good to me, and every day I want to sing His praise, glorify His name, mingle with His saints, and dare to defend His noble cause, yielding obedience to His laws." What have we this morning to be thankful for? We have the eternal blessing of being joint-heirs with Christ and partakers of His riches, and we have the blessed knowledge of such. We have been shown the beauty of His church, and been made to rejoice with those of like faith and order. We have been blessed with the rich liberty of freedom to worship as we believe the Scriptures dictate without fear of local or civil authority, and have been blessed to speak of these things in season as conscience and situation dictates. We have been blessed with family (both natural and spiritual), and the life and breath to work and labour for and to both. We have plenty to eat, wear, and more left over besides. We were able to get out of bed this morning, and we had a bed to get out of. The list continues, but how many of these things fade from our view when we focus on the worry and care of less important things? Oh how the list becomes short when the focus is on poor, pitiful me! But oh how bright the list becomes when we see the King, delight in His presence, and sup with Him in the house and courts of His pavilion! May His presence dwell with us this season, so that when we give thanks, we feel inside that for which our tongues freely confess in praise to His name.  In Hope, Bro Philip |